It has to do with where Mercury Rx is in relationship to your natal Moon. For instance, if your Moon sign is Aries, and Mercury Rx is in the sign of Cancer, it is in the forth sign from your natal Moon.

Each sign that Mercury retrogrades in creates a different experience based on where it is from your natal Moon sign.

The Moon is the mind and has to do with what we are experiencing in our environments and how we are experiencing it. The Moon is adaptable, it is its main characteristic. It is also able to “look all around” and put things into perspective, as well as use imagination to see possibilities and opportunities.

So, if you are having a particularly bad time during one of these Mercury Rx periods, deciding to adapt to whatever is going on will relieve some of your suffering. The other option is to let go of something you may be trying to hang on to that you are not really willing to do all that is required in order to keep it.

I know I suffer when computers start acting weird, things get lost, I make stupid mistakes, etc., because my unrealistic expectation is that things will go smoothly and perfectly at all times. It’s interesting that Mercury is the planet of manifesting ideas on the concrete plain of reality, and it’s our unrealistic ideas about reality that cause problems every time!

It’s when I view the problems that crop up during Mercury Rx as being interruptions to the way things should be, instead of seeing them as being as much a part of life as everything else, that I get really frustrated and suffer unnecessarily.

Sometimes Mercury Rx is even a chance to get a “do-over,” a chance to get it right, or a way to perfect a process. This can be when an ex-lover returns, a friendship is renewed, or if you write something over again (for the millionth time), it’s in that millionth rewrite (I’m exaggerating a little) that you see something crucial to the piece that you didn’t see before.

In the Vedic Gocara from the Moon technique, Mercury (when Rx and when not Rx) is favorable when it is transiting the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 11th from the natal Moon sign (by the way, all planets are favorable when transiting the 11th sign from the Moon), though sometimes it is blocked by another transiting planet.

Conversely, when Mercury is transiting the unfavorable positions, the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th positions from the natal Moon, sometimes the negative effects are blocked by another transiting planet.

PLEASE NOTE:The free chart download is not a reading, it’s an image of your birth chart with all the planets, houses, and signs clearly marked. It will probably be different than you’ve come to expect your Vedic natal chart to be, but don’t panic, it’s not a mistake, I’m using different settings than the usual. Just go with it and see if it doesn’t make more sense over time. In other words, test your ability to adapt!

Okay, now I’ll get on with it already. Here are the forecasts for each sign of the zodiac for these four upcoming Mercury Rx periods this year. You can use it for the Sun, Ascendant, or Moon, but it works best from the natal Moon.

Mercury Retrograde Forecast for Each Zodiac Sign

For Mercury Rx period January 5 to January 24, 2016:

ARIES:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 11th sign from Aries), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn (the 10th sign from Aries). For those few days, Mercury in the 11th sign from your natal Moon, has these effects: “The native will be jubilant with the attainment of wealth, children, happiness, spouse, friends, and vehicles. One will speak sweetly and pleasantly. Fresh gains, happiness, and success in everything.”

On the 9th, when Mercury goes back into Capricorn, however, the good effects of being in the 10th from the Moon are blocked because Mars in Scorpio is in the 8th from your Moon. Mars is slower in transit than Mercury, so it stays in Scorpio the whole time that Mercury Rx is in Capricorn.

The 10th from the natal Moon position “destroys enemies and bestows wealth, a beautiful damsel on a couch and her house property (romance & maybe wealth), sweet words and sweets.”

But don’t feel too bad, because when Mercury goes direct (January 25th), and then back into the sign of Aquarius on February 14th (Valentine’s Day), you will get to experience the sweet effects of Mercury in the 11th from your Aries Moon again until February 20th (when the Sun goes into Pisces and blocks the effects again).

TAURUS:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius, but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn (the 9th sign from Taurus). For those few days, Mercury is in the 10th from your natal Moon. This position “destroys enemies and bestows wealth, a beautiful damsel on a couch and her house property (romance & maybe wealth from your lover), sweet words and sweets.”

When Mercury transits back into Capricorn, the 9th from Taurus, the effects are “obstacles to all undertakings, and (possibly) illness.” This just means that you can practice going with the flow, taking very good care of yourself and getting extra rest.

When Mercury goes direct (on January 25th while still in Capricorn), and then back into Aquarius on the 14th, he will be in the 10th from your Moon again, where you can continue enjoying the good things that come with this position (read the first paragraph again).

GEMINI:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 9th sign from Gemini), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius, the effects are “obstacles to all undertakings, and (possibly) illness.” This means that you can practice going with the flow, taking very good care of yourself, and getting extra rest.

Then, when Mercury goes into Capricorn (on January 9th), the 8th from your Moon, the effects are positive again. In the 8th from the Moon, “the native will have gains, success, children, clothes, money, and skill that brings joy to the heart. Victory, mental peace and increase of learning.” This lasts until February 13th (about three weeks).

CANCER:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 8th sign from Cancer), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. The effects of Mercury in the 8th from the natal Moon are “the native will have gains, success, children, clothes, money, and skill that brings joy to the heart. Victory, mental peace and increase of learning”

When Mercury goes into Capricorn (the 7th sign from Cancer), the effects are “the native loses his luster and has frequent quarrels.” This means that you are a bit out-of-sorts and can easily get into arguments with people. This lasts until February 13th (about three weeks), even after Mercury has gone direct (January 25th), because he’ll still be in the sign of Capricorn.

You can minimize this effect by doing a stream-of-consciousness writing practice. Set the timer for 12 to 15 minutes, and during that time write continuously without picking the pen up from the paper. Don’t be concerned about spelling, grammar, punctuation or making sense.

If your mind goes blank, then write “my mind is blank, I can’t think of anything to say” and before you’re finished writing that, something will pop into your mind.

The important thing is to express all of your feelings and thoughts about everyone who is annoying you (you can burn the pages afterwards if you’re worried about someone reading it), and anything else that’s on your mind.

This practice soothes your nervous system so much that you often won’t remember what you were annoyed about by the end of the writing session. If you become aware that you need to set a boundary with someone, you can perfect what you want to say and how you want to say it in writing before you talk to the person.

You’ll be amazed by how much this practice helps you during this Mercury period (my recommendation is to make it lifelong practice).

Mercury goes back into Aquarius, where he’s in a favorable position for you, on February 14th, Valentines Day, and stays in Aquarius until March 5th!

LEO:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 7th sign from Leo), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius, the effects are “the native loses his luster and has frequent quarrels.”This means that you are a bit out-of-sorts and can easily get into arguments with people.

(See the forecast for Cancer above, if you want a suggestion on how to minimize this effect during this time and when Mercury goes back into Aquarius again on February 14th where he will stay until March 5th).

When Mercury goes into Capricorn, he will be in the 6th sign from Leo where “the native gets popularity, victory, and rise. Success in all things, general luck and rapid promotion.” Wow, you could make a lot of progress in your career, or any other area of life important to you during this time!

VIRGO:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 6th sign from Virgo), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius, the effects are “the native gets popularity, victory, and rise. Success in all things, general luck and rapid promotion.”

When Mercury goes into Capricorn, he will be in the 5th sign from Virgo where “the native will have quarrels with their spouse and children, and won’t be able to enjoy their charming spouse.”

If you want to minimize these ill effects, see the forecast for Cancer and do the writing practice described at least until February 14th when Mercury goes back into the sign of Aquarius, a favorable position for Virgo Moon (read the first paragraph for Virgo again.

LIBRA:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 5th sign from Libra), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius, the effects are “the native will have quarrels with their spouse and children, and won’t be able to enjoy their charming spouse.”

However, since Mars is in Scorpio, the ill effects of being in the 5th from Libra are blocked on January 4th and again when Mercury goes back into Aquarius on February 14th through March 5th.

When Mercury goes into Capricorn, he will be in the 4th sign from Libra where the effects are “the native’s kinsman and family will prosper, and the will gain wealth. General progress in the family.” Unfortunately, these positive effects are blocked by Saturn in Sagittarius.

It doesn’t mean that it will be negative at all when Mercury is in Capricorn, it will have a neutral effect. This Mercury Rx period in Aquarius and Capricorn are basically just neutral for you.

SCORPIO:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 4th sign from Scorpio), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius, and from February 14th to March 5th, the effects are “the native’s kinsman and family will prosper, and the will gain wealth. General progress in the family.”

When Mercury goes into Capricorn, he will be in the 3rd sign from Scorpio where the effects are “one will have new friends, will be afraid of the king and enemies and will run away as a result of their own wicked deeds.” Interesting, what did you DO?? Just kiddding! This means that you need to be extra scrupulous with your taxes, and when driving so you won’t get a ticket, and you may worry about an enemy (pray for them instead using the Buddist prayer “may you have happiness and all the causes of happiness” to bring you relief and possibly mend whatever is wrong between you).

However, when the Sun goes into Aquarius on January 21st, the ill effects of Mercury in the 3rd from the natal Moon are blocked.

When Mercury is in Aquarius starting February 18th for you (Venus in Capricorn is blocking the good effects starting February 14th until the 18th) the positive effects of Mercury 4th from the Moon described above are in play again until March 5th.

SAGITTARIUS:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 3rd sign from Sagittarius), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius “one will have new friends, will be afraid of the king and enemies and will run away as a result of their own wicked deeds.” Oh, I see that you and the Scorpio Moon people are in on something together, huh? (just joking!).

This means that you need to be extra scrupulous with your taxes, when driving so you won’t get a ticket, and you may worry about an enemy (pray for them instead using the Buddist prayer “may you have happiness and all the causes of happiness” to bring you relief and possibly mend whatever is wrong between you).

When Mercury Rx goes into Capricorn, he will be in the 2nd from Sagittarius where “one will suffer humiliation, but acquire wealth. Fresh acquisition of wealth and influence, and general prosperity.”

This is much more positive than negative, the humiliation part just likely means you are in a hurry in the morning and when you get to work you realize that you’re wearing two different shoes from two different pairs (this happened to me). You’ll be embarrassed at first, but then you’ll laugh the rest of the day every time you get a glimpse of your shoes, and your co-workers will be grateful for the entertainment.

These effects last until April 13th .

CAPRICORN:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 2nd sign from Capricorn), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius “one will suffer humiliation, but acquire wealth. Fresh acquisition of wealth and influence, and general prosperity.”
(read the forecast for Sagittarius for the meaning of this).

When Mercury Rx goes into Capricorn, he will be in the 1st from the Moon (in the same sign), and the native “will be deprived of wealth by wicked persons (using foul language), tale-bearers, enemies, duplicity, imprisonment and quarrels, and one will not hear even a kind word of welcome in their travels. Quarrels and misunderstanding with relations. Loss of money caused by unlawful words, writings, and journeys to distant places.”

Jeez, that old language sure is harsh! This is probably why Mercury Rx got such a bad reputation in the first place. Translated into modern language it means that you need to make sure that your passwords are good (change them) on all of your online accounts and watch your credit cards to make sure no one is trying to steal your identity.

Shred your junk mail and shred any paperwork with your name and account numbers on it. If there are duplicates of your house keys floating around out there with friends, relatives, and ex-lovers/roommates, then change your locks.

Don’t sign any documents unless you’ve actually read and understood the fine print, it would be better to avoid signing anything at least until Mercury goes direct on the 25th of January. If there are relatives and/or business associates that you don’t really like anyway, then try to avoid them completely during this time (and for the rest of your life if you can arrange it).

AQUARIUS:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 1st sign from Aquarius), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius the native “will be deprived of wealth by wicked persons (using foul language), tale-bearers, enemies, duplicity, imprisonment and quarrels, and one will not hear even a kind word of welcome in their travels. Quarrels and misunderstanding with relations. Loss of money caused by unlawful words, writings, and journeys to distant places.”

Luckily for you, these effects are blocked by Jupiter in Virgo. Whew! When Mercury Rx goes into Capricorn, he will be in the 12th position from Aquarius where it gives the effects of “the native will be troubled by enemies, insults, and illness, and won’t be able to enjoy the pleasure of union with their bedecked beloved.”

BUT, you are lucky once again because Saturn in Sagittarius is blocking the ill effects of Mercury in the 12th from the Moon too! So basically, this Mercury Rx period, and Mercurys transit through Aquarius and Capricorn will have minimal, of any, effect on you.

PISCES:

Mercury Rx starts out in Aquarius (the 12th sign from Pisces), but is there only until January 9th before he goes back into the sign of Capricorn. For those few days in the sign of Aquarius “the native will be troubled by enemies, insults, and illness, and won’t be able to enjoy the pleasure of union with their bedecked beloved.”

The Sun in Capricorn will block the ill effects of Mercury in the 12th from Pisces until January 9th. When Mercury Rx goes into Capricorn, the 11th sign from Pisces “the native will be jubilant with the attainment of wealth, children, happiness, spouse, friends and vehicles. One will also speak sweetly and pleasantly. Fresh gains, happiness and success in everything.”

These positive effects last until January 21st, then will be blocked by the Sun transiting into Aquarius. Just remember that Mercury’s transits are short-lived compared to the other planets except the Moon, and soon there will be a long-lasting positive transit that won’t be blocked by anything.

One Response to Why Mercury Rx Doesn’t Affect Everyone the Same Way. Forecasts for Each Sign of the Zodiac

Hey, what do you think of this take on Mercury Rx? Does it seem to be relevant to your life, have you noticed that Mercury Rx doesn’t always have the same kinds of effects on you? Do you find this perspective to be helpful or not?